Final Exam (2015)

Which of the following studies has had the most profound impact on ethical issues in psychological research?

Stanley Milgram's study of obedience

A neutral stimulus thats signals an unconditioned stimulus begins to produce a respsonse that anticipates and prepares for unconditioned stimulus during

acquisition trials

The fundamental attribution error is likely to lead observers to attribute to a stranger's

act of kindness to a compassionate personality

The pupil is

adjustable opening in in the center of the eye through which light enters

Learned helplessness is most likely to result when

responses have no effect on the environment

The coiled tube in the inner ear that contains the auditory receptors is called the

cochlea

The goal of rational emotive therapy is to help clients

correct self-defeating thoughts about their lives

According to the Cannon-Bard theory, the body's arousal is related to the sympathetic nervous system in the same ways that subjective awareness of emotion is related to the

cortex

According to Benjamin Whorf's linguistic relativity hypothesis, which of the following is true?

different languages predispose those individuals who speak them to think about the world in different ways

The more people are present at a scene, the less likely it is that anyone will help a person in need. This phenomenon is a manifestation of

diffusion of responsibility or the bystander effect

Multiple personality is a type of

dissociative disorder

One suspected cause of schizophrenia is the abnormal increase of which of the following neurotransmitters in the brain?

dopamine

According to activation-synthesis theory

dreams, result from the mind's attempt to make sense of random neural activity from the brainstem

The primary effect of the myelin sheath is to

increase the velocity of conduction of the actin potential along the axon

The role of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is to

establish homeostasis after a fight-or-flight response

According to Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) theory, of the following stages, we are most susceptible to disease during

exhaustion

The intelligence quotient is defined as the

mental age/chronological age x 100

Jeremy wears his baseball cap backwards because he noticed that his older brother does so. This illustrates the importance of

modeling

Which best represents the path of an impulse over a reflex arc?

receptor, efferent neuron, interneuron, afferent neuron, effector

Which brand of psychology is most directly concerned with the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another?

social psychology

Lev Vygotsky's approach to the study of cognitive development was

sociocultural

To decide whether observed differences between samples reflect actual differences between populations, you should determine the ____ of the observed differences.

statistical significance

According to cognitive dissonance theory, human beings are motivated to

reduce tensions produced by inconsistent thoughts

Compulsive hand washing often increases in frequency because it relieves feeling of anxiety. This best illustrates the impact of ____ on compulsive behaviors.

reinforcement

In Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments, subjects were least likely to deliver maximum levels of shock when the

subjects observed other subjects who refused to obey the experimenter's orders

Which of the following represent, respectively, superordinate and subordinate categories for the basic-level category of "automobile"?

vehicle, conertible

What is the mode of the following set of scores: 70, 70, 80, 80, 60, 60, 50, 90, 90, 90

90

John suffered a head injury in an accident five years ago. He now has clear memories of events that occurred before the accident, but he has greater difficulty remembering any of the experiences he has had since the accident. John's symptoms describe

Anterograde amnesia

"Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes" commonly defines psychology. In their definition of psychology, behaviorists would be likely to eliminate

III only (mental processes)

When 2-year-old Matthew was told he would get no desert until he finished the food on his plate, he threw his plate on the floor in a temper tantrum. Freud would have suggested the Matthew was unable to resist the demands of his

Id

A doctor suspects that her patient's language processing area is in the right hemisphere. This would most likely be corroborated by the use of

PET

Noam Chomsky attributed children's ability to pick up language so readily to

a built in readiness to learn grammar rules

Which of the following is a circadian rhythm?

a cycle of biological functioning that lasts 24 hours

Spearman's g factor refers to

a general intelligence that successful performance on a wide variety of tasks

Deindividuation refers to

a loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that fosters arousal in anonymity

Long-term potentiation is believed to be

a neural basis for learning & memory

The defense mechanism of reaction formation is best exemplified in which of the following situations?

a woman who is unaware of her anger toward her friend expresses affection for that friend

Bessie could barely detect sweetness in a sip of water from a pitcher in which one quarter of a teaspoon of sugar was mixed into a half gallon of water. For taste, this is Bessie's

absolute threshold

The classic case of railroad worker Phineas Gage best illustrated that frontal lobe damage can

alter one's personality

To demonstrate that brain stimulation can make rat violently aggressive, a neuroscientist should electrically stimulate the rat's

amygdala

Rather than use a shortcut to find out various possible combinations of alleles that could result from fertilization of an egg with particular genes by a sperm with particular genes, Shakira systematically lists every single possible combination to determine the probability that the baby will show a particular set of traits. Shakira is solving the problem by use of

an algorithm

Mayella believes that getting a good grade on an AP exam is a matter of luck. She most likely has

an external locus of control

Achievement tests are designed to

assess learned knowledge or skill

A double-blind control is essential for which of the following?

assessment of a treatment designed to reduce schizophrenia symptoms

Dan reads a list of 30 vocabulary words only once. If he is typical and shows the serial position effect, we would expect that the words he remembers two days later are

at the beginning of the list

Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation paradigm is typically used to test young children's

attachment

Madison is a fifth grader who tries to listen to the teacher, but has difficulty focusing. She looks around the classroom while the teacher is talking and then does not know what to do when others are starting their assignments. Her symptoms are characteristic of which of the following?

attention deficit disorder

Before Justin could take an airplane flight, he needed to overcome his fear of flying. His therapist taught him relaxation exercises, which he practiced while first looking at pictures of airplanes, then seeing them take off at the airport, then going into an empty plane that would not take off, then finally taking a short flight. Which of the following treatments did he undergo?

behavior therapy

Which of the following parts of the brain is most active in decision-making?

cerebral cortex

The intelligence quotient (IQ) has traditionally been based on the relationship between an individual's mental age and his/her

chronological age

The tendency of most people to identify a three sided figure as a triangle, even when one of it's sides is incomplete, is the result of perceptual process known as

closure

Jeanette locked the front door, then checked it by turning the knob. She checked it a second time. After walking halfway down the path to the street, Jeanette went back to the door and checked to make sure that it was locked. Her behavior appears to be

compulsive

A normally functioning 65-year-old who cannot solve abstract logic puzzles as quickly as he did when he was younger is experiencing a

decrease in his fluid intelligence

When parents refuse to accept several psychologists' diagnosis of a child's mental illness, they are using which of the following defense mechanisms?

denial

For several weeks -- ever since she did not receive a raise that was given to several colleagues -- Samantha has lacked energy, has been unable to go to work, and has expected bad things to happen every day. Of the following, she is most likely experiencing

depression

The visual cliff is a laboratory device for testing ____ in infants

depth perception

Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that

each person in town has the same probability of being chosen for the study

According to the information-processing view of memory, the first stage in memory processing involves

encoding

Which schedule of reinforcement id followed by Soledad, who answers every email message her friend sends?

fixed ratio

Cognitive theorists emphasize the

formation and modification of schemas

A pigeon trained to peck at a green light pecks at a yellow light also. This illustrates

generalization

After learning to fear a white rat, Little Albert responded with fear to the sight of a rabbit. This best illustrates the process of

generalization

Which of the following approaches emphasizes the importance of people's feelings and views human nature as naturally positive and growth seeking?

humanistic

Which of the following was true of Solomon Asch's experiments on conformity?

if the confederates' judgements were not unanimous, the degree of conformity by experimental subjects decreased

Cheri doesn't remember that she got sick after eating oatmeal on several occasions in early childhood. However, whenever she smells oatmeal she experiences a classically conditioned feeling of nausea. Cheri's conditioned reaction indicates that she retains a(n) ____ memory

implicit

Leadership, job satisfaction, and employee motivation are all studied in which of the following psychological disciplines?

industrial-organizational psychology

A nine-year-old girl first learning about her capabilities on the playground and in the classroom would be in which of Erickson's stages of development?

industry vs. inferiority

After spending two hours trying to solve an engineering problem, Amira finally gave up. As she was trying to fall asleep that night, a solution to the problem popped into her head. Amira's experience best illustrates

insight

Wolfgang Kohler considered a chimpanzee's sudden solving of a problem evidence of

insight

A somatoform disorder is best described as an illness that

is psychological in nature with no physical symptoms

According to the ethical guidelines set by the American Psychological Association, which of the following is true of psychological research in which animals are used as subjects?

it should conform to all APA guidelines for animal research

Of the following, which provides most valid and reliable data about individuals as they progress through various stages of development?

longitudinal studies

People who have experienced severe damage to the frontal lobe of the brain seldom regain their ability to

make and carry out plans

The cognitive theory of depression states that depression results from

maladaptive interpretations of life events

Dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine are all

neurotransmitters that excite or inhibit a neural signal across a synapse

Jared thinks that going to psychology lecture classes is a waste of time, and that you can do just as well in the course if you just read the review book, watch "Discovering Psychology," and take the tests. He decides to test his hypothesis with an experiment. The independent variable in his experiment is

not going to lecture classes, reading the review book, and watching "Discovering Psychology"

A baby looks under the sofa for a ball that has just rolled underneath it. According to Jean Piaget, the baby's action shows development of

object permanence

According to social learning theory, gender identity results primarily from

observation and imitation of significant role models

In psychology, Gestalt principals are used to explain

perceptual organization

After Kato's serious motorcycle accident, doctors detected damage to his cerebellum. Kato is most likely to have difficulty

playing his guitar

Amy's therapist shakes her head affirmatively and says "Yes, uh huh," as Amy talks about her problems. Which of the following treatments did she experience?

psychoanalysis

A disorder in which a person loses contact with reality and experiences irrational ideas and disordered perceptions is

psychotic

Lucille suffered a stroke last week and cannot recognize her children or grandchildren by looking at them. Of the following structures, her brain lesion is most likely in the

right cerebral cortex

Flat affect and catatonia are symptoms most closely associated with

schizophrenia

The most distinctive characteristic of the experimental method is

seeks to establish cause-effect relationships

According to Piaget, what is the earliest stage at which a child is capable of using simple logic to think about objects and events?

sensorimotor

According to attraction, people are most likely to be attracted to others who are

similar to themselves in many ways

Drugs that block the reuptake of serotonin will thereby increase the concentration of serotonin molecules in the

synaptic gaps

The rules of grammar are rules of

syntax

Wernicke's area is typically located in the left ____ lobe.

temporal

On the way to the visual cortex, neural impulses from the retina are first relayed to the

thalamus

Homeostasis, which is the goal of drive reduction, is defined as

the body's tendency to maintain a constant internal state

Ben thinks students will answer questions printed on yellow paper more quickly than those printed on blue paper. All study participants will take three tests with 35 multiple-choice questions each. The independent variable in Ben's experiment is

the color of the paper

Which method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether athletic performance is boosted by caffeine consumption?

the experiment

Drive reduction as a motivational concept is best exemplified by which of the following?

the injection of heroin by an addict to avoid withdrawal symptoms

In Pavlov's experiments on the salivary conditioning of dogs, the US was

the presentation of food in the dog's mouth

Jamille is taking French in school. She gets her best grades on vocabulary tests if she studies for 15 minutes every day for 8 days than if she crams for 2 hours the night before the test. This illustrates what is known as

the spacing effect

The James-Lange theory of emotion states that

to experience emotion is to be aware of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing event

The general function of the bones in the middle ear is to

transfer sound information from the tympanic membrane to the oval window

The painful experience associated with termination of the use of an addictive substance is known as

withdrawl